reference guide to Chinese and other Asian myth allusions

Here is an introductory list of allusions made to Chinese myth and culture as they appear in A Mandate From Heaven. The story draws heavily upon these allusions for any of it's pretense of being DEEP. Unless there is something  that is very confusing to the reader, I personally would avoid this reference where possible, as these allusions are can be quite revealing to characters true intentions. Other people, however, will find that knowing many of these upfront may make the story more easily understandable and enjoyable. proceed at your own risk.

You will also find that a lot of the allusions are towards birds or bird deities. In all reality, that was not intentional. This evolved over time with the story. though fish and birds are frequent sources of legend or myth they are not as important mythologically as the dragon (with exception of the so-called 'chinese phoenix.') However, the Osprey was symbol of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts, and birds are naturally a symbol of feedom, so I decided to take the bird symbolism and just run with it.

While I did draw on the Avatar world where i could, I drew upon China quite frequently wherever i could or where Avatar was lacking. The concept of 'myths and legends' themselves was important to the themes and story of A Mandate From Heaven itself, it was important for the characters of the story thematically to uphold and fulfill various real life Chinese mythos. In Chinese myth, if people believed in you hard enough, you would become deified -- very Warhammer, sigmar be praised. For what it's worth, the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z series is an adaption of 'Journey to the West,' one of the four cornerstones of Chinese traditional literature.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

A Mandate From Heaven -- This directly reference the concept of 'Heaven's Mandate.' While the Chinese, like all other feudal societies, deified their rulers, this differed from the European concept of 'divine right of kings' in that the Mandate of Heaven was earned and could also be revoked. This was, perhaps, the earliest example of the very modern notion that governance is bestowed by the will of the governed. If a ruler failed to uphold the heaven's mandate, he was no longer in the god's good graces and the people could rightfully overthrow him for being a tyrant. Likewise, it was also acceptable for outsiders to rule China, so long as they upheld the Mandate with fair, just, and wise leadership. The Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty and Manchu of the Ming Dynasty were able to successfully invoke this by adopting Chinese culture to rule the Han for hundreds of years

Jia -- This is word is split between multiple homophones and meanings in Chinese, in particular both "home" and "family." There are also other meanings such as "auspicious"

Jian -- while in english, someone from Jia would be be a Jian, it is a different word in chinese with two seperate homophones.
Jian (sword): the Jian is China's tradition double-edged sword comparable to European longswords. The use of Jian as a callsign for special operators in Jia sepparates them from the regular military units who go by the callsign Dao -- China's simpler single edged sword.
Jian (mythical bird): as explained by the Thein Kyu in act two, the Jian is a mythical pair of birds with one eye, one leg, and one wing each. they much work together to fly and to live or both will die, symbolizing husband and wife. In the context of the story, their is a double meaning -- the Water Tribe and Natives (and by extension, the Rhodesian Boer and native Black African) must work together as one if they wish to both survive. This of course also represents the teamwork between Hiro and Koko as they literally take flight.

Hei Bai -- black (Hei) and white (bai). This is meant to express both Hei Bai's goofy dark and light tan and the duality of his persona. The black and white is also in reference to the Yin Yang symbol, as Hei Bai is a Taoist.

Jo-Ha-Kyu -- the names of each act or 'book' of AMFH are a traditional three act structure in Japanese plays. Jo: Beggining, the start of the story starts out slowly. Ha: Break, the pace of the story speeds up. Kyu: Rapid, the story quickly comes to a swift end. or as a Japanese playwright described them, "Love, Warriors & battles, Tragedy"

Kintsugi -- explained by Hiro's mother, Azusa, it's a Japanese art of gluing broken ceramics back together using veins of gold. The results are quite pretty, and she tries to use this to teach her son a lesson on accepting and overcoming hardships.

Hiro -- the Hero of the story. Hiro thought he wants to be a Hero, but the name's meaning in Japanese, such as "generous" and "successful" are everything that Hiro wants to be but thinks he is not.

Hou Yi -- A Chinese mythical archer whose wife is Chang'e. When Nine suns (sometimes represented as Tripedal Crows) threaten to scorch the Earth, he shoots down all but one of them, just as our Hiro shoots down the Air Soveriegnty zeppelins. (whether this myth was being invoked when the Aang's Gaang stop the firenation zepellins from scorching the earth kingdom, i cannot say. but it does go towards the themes of myth and reality being blurred by making a connection between Hei Bai's Heroes and the Gaang). The suns' father curses both Hou Yi and Chang'e to mortality. They find an elixir of immortality, but before they both can drink it, they are attacked by bandits who want the elixir for themselves. Before they can kill her, Chang'e drinks the entire elixir, causing her to ascend to the moon with her pet rabbit, where she lives to this day.

Hiro and Hou Yi -- Hiro is mixed race, with a Fire Nation (Japanese) mother and an abusive Earth Kingdom (Chinese) father. His birth name is Hou Yi, which is a Chinese name. As Hiro needs to adopt a new identity as he goes from place to place, he chooses the Japanese name Hiro out of the detesting of his father and love for his mother. Hiro is noted for looking almost exactly like his (Earth Kingdom) Father, with the exception of his mother's eyes and her firebending ability.

Peng -- the parable of Peng and Kun is one of the oldest known in Chinese canon. The author of 'Free and Easy Travels' goes to describe the leviathan Kun, who is a fish hundreds perhaps thousands of miles long. seeking greater freedom, the fish transforms into a Roc known as Peng the Magnificent, whose wingspan is like that of entire continents. the author goes into detail that just as a puddle seems tiny to us, it is deep to float a paper boat, so too is the entire sky only just able to support the wings of Peng. a cicada and a quail then insult Peng, reasoning that if they are so small and can only fly dozens of feet at a time, no one should be allowed to fly around the world in only a few beats of their wings, demonstrating how the small minded limit their own possibilities thru a sort of willful ignorance. It's a good annecdote and it's only a few paragraphs long; look it up on wikipedia if you're into that sort of thing. Peng's little brother is named after the words for quail and cicada.

Baijiu -- made from sorghum, it is a traditional and common Chinese vodka of sorts, and this shit is nasty. Sorghum was also an important Rhodie crop, though it was usually used for making beer for traditional and cultural Tribal beer drinks.

Xionhuangjiu -- This is a cultural wine that is drunk during a Chinese festival it is a realgar wine -- a wine containing trace amounts of arsenic. As one of the tales told at the festival goes, a pair of shapeshifter snakes try to seduce a man, but they are both given then wine by a skeptical witch hunter. the poison hurts them, knocking them out of their human form and revealing their true identity. Dragons have the ability to shapeshift, so during the festival it is drunk so that any dragon hiding as a human will be forced to reveal his true form.

Shang Yang -- a rain goddess, taking the form of a bird

Tripedal Crow -- known in Chinese an Sanzuwu, Yanwu, or Jinwu, the three legged crow is a mythical animal that embodies the 10 suns, with some variations of the legend saying that the crows turned to or even are the 10 suns.

Durga -- a hindu goddess. she is a protective mother goddess who brings violence upon any she deems evil, and is armed to the teeth with weapons in each of her many arms. rides a water buffallo. A fitting name for the airship analog of an AC-130 gunship.

--------------------------------
I will update this list as the story goes along, let me know if there's any I missed.